Avgas

I hope our supply was on the same ship 😃 My mates in South Africa have had theirs for over a month now. Yes that market would be a priority so that explains that, but I feel like a kid patiently waiting for Christmas morning! Every time the question is asked on social media about availability here, the answer from Kinetic is 'soon'.. Been like that for 2 months now.. Anyway, I'll just have to adult and be patient 👍

Looks good. I still haven't seen one for sale in the UK. Hopefully they arrive soon..

Part of my job in a local charity is to raise funds selling donations on Ebay. RM have on the whole been good and only 3 parcels out of hundreds have gone missing in action. Two of those we swallowed because it would've cost more in time to sort than they were worth. However, the latest to go mia was worth a lot more, so I went down the compensation route, as I had to refund the buyer. Long story short, compensation was refused because though I could prove how much we refunded the buyer with an invoice, I couldn't prove how much WE paid for the item. The cynic in me thinks that the fact our invoices make it obvious we're a charity relying on donations, gave them the perfect opportunity for a get out, by asking for information they knew we probably couldn't provide. But that's by the by. More importantly (in these parts) is that this may be the approach they take toward those of us who may sell kits that have been part of our stash for years and any proof of payment loooong gone. I've learnt my lesson though and won't be bothering with more expensive options when sending in future, so they've lost at least a bit of income going forward. PS the story does have a happy ending - the package turned up just last week, 3 months later and the buyer made contact to arrange payment. I appreciated the honesty - just brilliant!

Nicely done! My favourite scheme for this jet.

That is beautifully done! Love it!

Very interesting subject! I remember this being reported on the SABC News when I was a kid. Interesting story surrounding the 'defection' and the possibility the pilot was recruited to defect with a Mig-21. Something got lost in translation and instead he arrived with the Mig-17, serial number 21.. It's all here, on the SAAF forum : http://www.saairforce.co.za/forum/viewtopic.php?t=938 Wonder how much truth is contained in that story?

Thanks Werner. Unfortunately the FAE bird is packed away in preparation for a house move so the best I can about a group photo is to cheat with some software 😁

Thanks. I appreciate it's not to everyone's tastes but as far as I'm concerned, the more weathering to be done the better! Thanks for the comments everyone.

It's ok. One of Kinetic's earlier releases so mould quality isn't the best with the smaller parts suffering the most from lack of definition. Panel lines are all over the place and range from soft & deep to not more than a suggestion. Some rescribing is therefore necessary. To sum up, middle of the road. Not great, not out & out bad.

This is the second of two Kinetic Kfirs I started and abandoned way back in 2014 when these kits were released. I hadn't got quite as far with this one so there was a bit more work to do to complete. Mostly from the box - I had to replace the nose pitot because I snapped the original and the rbf tags are from Eduard and added for some colour. My reference photo's showed these aircraft to be pretty beaten up and weathered so I took the opportunity to go to town with oils in an attempt to learn what works and what doesn't. I learned quite a bit an I'm pretty happy with the result. Anyway, on to the pics - Thanks for stopping by!

Excellent. Now I'm sure that Greg is a fine and upstanding fellow, but I am not he 😉

If I remember correctly, the Esci/Italeri windscreen is too wide so perhaps Scaleworx addressed this? Looking good so far!

I'm wondering how it's possible to arrange a sale at all without a pm. What am I missing? 🤨

Lovely result. I'd never guess it put up a fight by looking at it. You've well and truly beaten it.

Those colours work well together. Terrific job!

Even my old stomping ground at the southern tip of Africa has them.

For anybody who's interested, I've received a reply - "Dear XXXX, Thank you for your email and I would advise as follows. 1) Many resellers have limited shelf space and will therefore not stock both sizes, especially when they are stocking paints from a number of manufacturers 2) Each bottle of paint/colour has to undergo testing before distribution in the UK and this is an expensive exercise I trust that this information answers your question. Best regards" There you have it, shelf space and testing apparently.

That's great, thanks both. I guess chopping the fins off an Aim-9 and painting it blue would make a passable representation.

Can someone please help me identify the dark blue pod under the wing of this F-21 please? Looks like a finless Sidewinder. Airlinets.net picture so can't post directly, apologies. Just follow the link. https://www.airliners.net/photo/USA-Navy/Israel-Aircraft-Industries-F-21A-Kfir/1793885/L

Lovely result! (those stencils look like fun 😬)

My first equal favourite scheme very well executed. Beautifully done!

Tamiya USA seem to still stock them too. I've found a couple of threads from 2012-2014 discussing the discontinuation of the 23ml bottles and the fact they were still available then. As I type, I can feel the cynic in me stirring, so I'll send Hobbyco an email to find out what the deal is before I conclude it's local unavailability is profit driven 🙊 Thanks for the input everyone.

I've only recently become aware of the fact Tamiya do their acrylics in 23ml bottles as well as the 10ml that appear to be the norm in the UK. Prices abroad indicate better value for money with the bigger bottles but I can't find any UK stockists. Does anybody know of a UK supplier? Seems a no brainer to buy a few better value bottles of the more frequently used colours.

Yea, I recall Raymond saying on Facebook that Kinetic won't be making public any of their planned kits until just prior to release. This was immediately after the eventual release and final conclusion of the AMK Tomcat debacle. I think a few manufacturers learned from that!

That's a good looking pair!